This assignment is NOT supposed to be considered as a research paper and/or a piece of narrative/factual writing intended to inform. The goal of this writing assignment is to convey your personal opinion and produce a piece of writing designed to persuade someone. Each journal entry must meet the following requirements.

1. Written in the first-person. (I/we/us)
2. It must be proofread. Proper capitalization and punctuation must be used.
3. Meet the minimum word requirement. (Four Hundred words per entry) You may go over this word count, but you will not receive full credit if you do not meet the required minimum standards.
4. Each journal entry must be submitted with a topic or title of your choice. EX: Week #3 - How I Felt about the Death of Julius Caesar
5. The content of each journal entry is personal to you. You may focus any term that was covered in the course textbook reading OR the online class lecture module. You must be specific in your responses. What you should not do is summarize facts of historical events. This is an opinion piece. I need to hear YOUR voice in the free-writing exercise. This is NOT a historical narrative/summary piece but a persuasive/opinion piece of writing each week that is personal to you.

Questions to consider as you write your journal entry:

-How did you feel after you learned about your topic?

-Did the topic make you think of questions after you learned about it?

-Are there any connections you can make to the topic you've chosen and what's going on in your own life as a college student living in Florida in the 21st century?

Topic for the journal

II. Focus #1: The True Story of Tarquin the Proud

Tarquin the Proud.

"Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin the Proud) a descendant from an Etruscan family (he was the son of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus) was the legendary seventh (and the last) king of ancient Rome. Tarquin was married to Tullia, the daughter of Servius Tullius. Tullia had encouraged her husband to murder her father, so that Tarquin ascended to the throne.

At the time his kingdom was one of the most powerful in Italy. Its capital had some 35,000 inhabitants, its territory was some 800 square kilometers, and its zone of influence stretched as far as Circeii and Terracina - 90 kilometers to the southeast. The Latin cities recognized Roman leadership, and Tarquin added several towns to his kingdom.

He continued with great vigor the work of extending the power of the city, and the founding of colonies by him was the beginning of Rome's path to supremacy of the world. Tarquin was responsible for the building of Capitoline Temple (Jupiter Capitolinus) and the Cloaca Maxima, the sewerage system that discharged into the Tiber. Tarquin concluded a treaty with Gabii, a town east of Rome. But on other matters Tarquinius was less politically astute. He irritated the people by the burdens he placed upon them. The heads of Rome's noble families had always been invited to give advise to the king. Those meetings were called the Senate. Tarquin behaved like an autocrat and was not interested in consulting the senators, those obviously felt ignored. Tarquinuius surname Superbus means something like "the haughty one" or "the proud".

According to Livy, a reign of terror followed, and many senators were put to death. Eventually a group of senators led by Lucius Junius Brutus (another Etruscan nobleman) raised a revolt.The romantic reason traditionally given for the deposition of Tarquin was the rape of Lucretia by his son Sextus Tarquinius. After the subsequent suicide of Lucretia, her husband, Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, and the Brutus family (to which Lucretia belonged) raised a rebellion. The actual reason for the fall of the Monarchy was probably a power struggle between the king and the leading aristocratic families. Tarquin attempted to curb the rising power of the aristocrats by packing the Senate with 200 of their supporters, increasing the total membership to 300 men. These were known as the conscripti or the enrolled ones and this word became part of the official title of the Senate, the Patres Conscripti or Conscript Fathers. The Tarquin family was expelled from Rome, the monarchy at Rome was abolished and the Aristocracy set up a republic in 509 BC."

https://www.unrv.com/bio/lucius-tarquinius-superbus.php